Odisha expects to spend Rs 2,000 crore on rural jobs scheme

Bhubaneswar: Odisha has surpassed several states in utilisation of fund under the rural job employment scheme and expects that the total utilisation may cross Rs.2,000 crore by end of this financial year, an official statement said on Friday.

The total utilization of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (MGNREGS) during the current fiscal up to February 25 has been to the tune of Rs.1,746 crore, against a total utilisation during of around Rs.1,059 crore in 2014-15, said the statement after a meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi here.

Panchayati Raj Secretary Deo Ranjan Kumar Singh informed that Odisha has come up to 8th position in utilization of funds under MGNREGS from its 12th position in 2014-15.

It has gone ahead of the leading states like Karnataka, Kerala and Maharastra during the current year, he said, adding total utilisation might touch Rs.2,000 crore by end of March 2016.

Padhi directed the departments concerned to bring more projects into the fold of convergence with MGNREGS, and asked them to formulate appropriate project proposals and scale up their activities at the ground level.

Around 6 crore man days have been created up to February 25 against the total man days of 5 crore created during 2014-15. The achievement in this indicator has crossed 85 percent, said the release.

Around 16.93 lakh households have been provided employment during this period which shows an achievement of 89 percent. Participation of women and ST/SC people in man days created has been 95 and 97 percent respectively, it added.